Chapter 1409: A show of force

Later in the day.

Beijing.

Robert Gates, who had just completed his morning schedule, adjusted his dark blue tie and walked into the International Club Hotel with a group of his entourage.

This place is of extremely high quality and close to the city center, and therefore has gradually become one of the standard accommodation options for senior foreign leaders when they visit China.

They are very familiar with this kind of reception business.

As the crowd stepped onto the stairs, someone had already helped open the glass door that reflected the midday sun, and the marble floor in the lobby reflected the tense figures of dozens of security personnel.

Everything has been arranged to ensure the smooth and safe journey of this important trip.

But even so, after entering the top-floor presidential suite, Gates still reached out to stop the military attaché, Major General Andrew Scheer, who wanted to speak:

"An embassy vehicle will come to pick us up later. We'll talk about anything then."

Gates came from the intelligence community, and eavesdropping on visiting foreign delegations was a specialty on both sides of the Iron Curtain during the Cold War. Even he himself had carried out similar missions personally.

So although no similar behavior has been found on the Chinese side so far, out of empathy, the Minister has decided to be extra cautious.

Shear has been stationed in China for many years and knows that this method is not the other party's style of doing things, and Gates' predecessor and predecessor did not pay much attention to these aspects, so he actually doesn't care.

But after all, it was his superior who spoke, so he just followed his instructions without saying anything, and secretly took note of the new leader's personal preferences in his heart.

Because of the awkward relationship between the two sides of the Pacific, being an envoy to China is actually a very strenuous and thankless job, but the relatively inconspicuous military attachés do not have such worries.

The fact that Scheer has been able to serve multiple terms in his current lucrative position obviously means that he has some unique skills that are not known to outsiders.

Analyzing the personality and habits of each superior is one of them.

Soon, several luxury cars with black license plates pulled up to the back door of the hotel and picked up several core members of the delegation who had changed into casual clothes.

It wasn't until he got in the car that Gates finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"Andrew, why do you think the other side wants us to visit such a unit?"

He looked at the street scenes on both sides of the road outside the window and asked Major General Scheer next to him:

"I mean, shouldn't they be showing us their best in this situation?"

After getting off the plane in the morning, the delegation was arranged a welcome ceremony and an internal tour of the army unit as usual.

Gates had originally been very interested in the latter, but before departure he was told by an experienced entourage that they would most likely go to a PLA unit that was specifically used for external display, and that the equipment was roughly average and could not truly reflect China's technological progress in the past decade, so it was of limited reference value.

Now that he had seen it in person, he found that it was indeed the case, which made him greatly disappointed.

"Perhaps they are preparing to let us relax our vigilance first, and then launch a surprise attack when necessary, leaving us in a state of panic?"

Sher made up a random reason -

In fact, he knew very well that the Chinese side did not have such complicated ideas. It was simply because the 6th Armored Division was the most advanced unit 20 or 30 years ago. Although it did not keep up with the pace of equipment replacement, the habit had been retained.

But the defense minister, who was a former intelligence officer, obviously would not like such a simple answer.

Sure enough, Gates nodded thoughtfully after hearing this, but did not continue to ask questions. Instead, he quickly changed the subject:

"So, what do you think about our routine meeting this afternoon and the first round of talks tomorrow?"

Compared to the previous topic which was just a casual chat, this question is obviously more sensitive and involves the essence.

Out of professionalism, Sher couldn't just make up an answer, but he was also worried that speaking rashly might not be in line with the above meaning.

During his campaign last year, the current president explicitly expressed his hope to temporarily ease relations with China in order to obtain China's help in overcoming the financial crisis, but according to his observations, the current attitude seems to have changed.

So I had to try it out first:

“Your Excellency, this may not be answered in just one or two sentences… Moreover, the actual result will depend on what we hope to achieve through this meeting.”

This sentence seems to be an answer, but it is essentially a rhetorical question.

Gates said:

"The White House is still unsure... The impact of the financial crisis will definitely require China's help to smoothly transition, otherwise it will only turn into a disaster for the whole world. But it is not yet clear whether this will be achieved through tough or soft means. This meeting is also intended to find out the bottom line."

Now, Sher understood.

It means that now you have to ask someone to do something for you, but you are not sure whether it should be "I kneel down for you" or "You kneel down and I ask you for a favor."

However, this sentence basically does not reveal any useful information, especially the defense minister's own inclination.

Schell couldn't ask again, so he just said what he thought:

"I think you should already know that the Chinese military has made rapid progress in weaponry in recent years. Relying on its local advantages, it has even shown a tendency to compete with us. But I also want to emphasize that their improvement in software, that is, training and organizational level, has been underestimated or greatly ignored."

As he spoke, he looked at Gates' reaction. However, the latter came from an intelligence background and didn't have many flaws in this area. He just signaled the former to continue.

"It didn't take too long. Just a dozen years ago, the Chinese army was still an armed force with relatively backward management and command levels. They might have a strong fighting spirit and some ingenious tricks, but objectively they lacked sufficient capabilities to organize a large-scale modern military operation. This can be seen from the response to the flood disaster in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. Although it was still a successful example of an emergency mission, the execution level still relied more on numbers and willpower."

Scheer sensed a moment of impatience in Gates' eyes, so he quickly switched to the current situation:

"However, last year, when faced with a similar mission that was much more urgent and without any warning, the Chinese military was able to organize the coordination and cooperation between multiple services in an orderly manner, and set up an emergency command and communication network in a very short time. In one month, it dispatched nearly 5000 helicopters and more than 400 military transport planes to transport more than a division of troops and equipment to areas with inconvenient roads. It can be said that it is second only to, or even very close to, our level..."

"..."

His analysis was finally concluded only when the car came to a complete stop.

Aside from the little tricks, Scheer’s abilities at a professional level are certainly there.

The military attaché is tasked with collecting military intelligence from the host country, but this is made more difficult by his exposed identity. Therefore, this information is almost entirely judged by him through public information and personal observations.

Gates was not a military man, but fortunately he was not completely ignorant of military affairs. After hearing Scheer's conclusion, he did not express any opposition or impatience, but just asked again:

"So you think we should try to avoid conflict with them?"

"That's not necessarily the case."

Sher decisively chose "or" in the yes-or-no question:

"I mean, if we want to use tough measures to exert pressure, now may be the last window of opportunity. If we wait a few years... I'm afraid even if we still have the upper hand, it will be difficult to successfully make the other side give in."

Gates remained noncommittal until he pushed the door open, got out of the car, and walked all the way to the front door of the embassy before finally revealing his thoughts:

"In fact, it would be best if we could successfully reach a cooperation agreement and let the Chinese take on a debt to help us through the crisis. The Chinese themselves actually have similar ideas... But my consideration is that if the means are too soft, it will be difficult to carry out future exchanges, and the whole process will completely become a stage for the Secretary of State and the Ministry of Commerce, and it will have nothing to do with us..."

Seeing this, Sher continued with what he had just said:

"Then, judging from the current time window, we still have the initiative to negotiate based on our strength. Even if it is impossible for the other party to accept all our demands, we can still obtain relatively advantageous exchange conditions."

The so-called "starting from strength" is another way of saying "whoever has the bigger fist has the final say."

Hearing this, Gates finally smiled, straightened his clothes, and pushed the door open to enter the embassy.

However, before he could speak again, he saw an entourage walking quickly out of a small door next to him.

There was a piece of paper in his hand.

"What's wrong, Marina?"

Gates heard footsteps and turned his head subconsciously.

"Sir, there is urgent news."

The secretary named Marina handed something to Gates.

The latter took it and glanced at it, his expression suddenly changed.

Sher was curious, but he was not sure whether he should speak up.

Gates took the initiative to hand over the telegram paper:

"Major General, you have lived in China for many years. Your judgment just now was very accurate..."

"Ok?"

Sher didn't understand at all and was confused about which judgment the other party was talking about.

The result is a closer look -

[Air Force Space Command Reconnaissance Center: Confirmed that at around 10 a.m. local time today, China completed the first flight of its fourth-generation fighter jet. More specific information is still being confirmed]

Although Sher thought that he had been in China for many years and had a good understanding of the Chinese army and could give the enemy a lenient view, he still couldn't help but tremble when he saw the news.

It's also a bit embarrassing -

It turned out that the guess I made at the beginning was correct.

Is it really a surprise attack?